Democracy Now! reports on the controversial Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court on January 21, 2010. The ruling characterizes political spending as free speech and opened the floodgates for unlimited corporate spending on election campaigns. Critics argue that corporations should not be given the same First Amendment rights as people and that the ruling will greatly influence American politics and corrupt the election process.

As Democracy Now! has previously reported, one of every four dollars spent on the campaign ads, direct mail and robocalls that target voters now comes from so-called "dark money" organizations. The IRS lets these groups keep their donors secret because they are considered "social welfare non-profits." But that changed this past Friday when a Montana judge ordered the release of one such group’s bank records. An...

A new exposé raises alarming questions about the ability of corporations to influence the voting decisions of their employees. In an article published by "In These Times" magazine, labor journalist Mike Elk examines the contents of a voter information packet that Koch Industries sent to tens of thousands of employees at its subsidiary, Georgia-Pacific. The packet advised the employees on whom to vote for and warned them of the dire...

The celebratory mood in Charlotte was on display Tuesday night as thousands of delegates kicked off the Democratic National Convention and millions watched on TV. But the political party continues beyond what the public sees on prime-time broadcasts or even inside the convention center. There are exclusive events underway that range from corporate-sponsored parties hosted by the powerful Democratic Governors Association to a Super-O-Rama party...

As the Republican National Convention opened on Tuesday in Tampa, thousands of journalists were there to cover the story. At the same time, secretive meetings were being held behind closed doors across the city that could determine who wins the election in November. According to the Huffington Post, at one such meeting on Tuesday, the Karl Rove-founded Crossroads groups, representatives of the billionaires Charles and David Koch, and the U.S....

Karl Rove, the man once known as "Bush’s Brain," has helped found two groups that plan to raise hundreds of millions of dollars for television, radio and online attacks ads to defeat President Obama and restore Republican control of Washington this November. The groups — American Crossroads, whose donors are public, and Crossroads GPS, a so-called "social welfare" organization whose donors are anonymous —...

“I never bought a man who wasn’t for sale,” William A. Clark reportedly said. He was one of Montana’s “Copper Kings,” a man who used his vast wealth to manipulate the state government and literally buy votes to make himself a U.S. senator. That was more than 100 years ago, and the blatant corruption of Clark and the other Copper Kings created a furor that led to the passage, by citizen initiative, of Montana’s...

The Supreme Court has struck down a century-old Montana law banning corporate campaign spending. Montana was sued when it invoked the ban to prevent corporate money from flooding state and local political races. A right-wing nonprofit argued the state’s ban violates the 2010 Citizens United ruling that allowed corporations to spend unlimited amounts in federal elections. On Monday, the Supreme Court agreed, blocking Montana’s law...

In part two of our conversation with Monika Bauerlein and Andy Kroll of Mother Jones magazine, we continue to look at "dark money" — the hundreds of millions of dollars being spent by outside groups who are helping to make the 2012 presidential race the most expensive race in history. Bauerlein and Kroll discuss the role of attorney James Bopp, a key legal adviser behind the Citizens United decision; how Karl Rove, Sheldon...

Part two of our conversation with Monika Bauerlein and Andy Kroll of Mother Jones magazine. The new cover story in the magazine is called "Follow the Dark Money." We discuss at how Karl Rove, Sheldon Adelson and others are bankrolling Mitt Romney’s campaign, why President Obama has opted to accepted unlimited super PAC donations, as well, and Stephen Colbert’s role in the debate over campaign finance. [includes rush...

The 2012 presidential election is set to become the most expensive race in history, with spending projected to top $11 billion — more than double the 2008 total. It will be the first presidential election since the Supreme Court’s landmark Citizens United decision, which lifted a 63-year-old ban prohibiting corporations, trade associations and unions from spending unlimited amounts of money on political advocacy. We’re joined...